The Black Death as One of the Worst Pandemics - Essay Example

The Black Death reached Europe through The Black Sea in October 1347 when 12 Genoese trade ships arrived at Messina’s Sicilian port. The Genoese ships’ passengers on board were already plague-infected. The strategic location of China as one of the world’s significant trading nations facilitated the spread of the Black Death into Europe and Western Asia. The Black Death rapidly spread in “Europe from Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, England, Germany, Scandinavia, Norway, Bergen, Iceland, to northwestern Russia.”

Medieval society was tremendously influenced by the Black Death. To begin with, there was starvation in the villages because the laborers died. The men who were supposed to plow fields died. The lack of labor also affected harvesting, and livestock farming. In the urban areas, the effects of the Black Death were directly proportional to the impacts in the rural areas. A number of people migrated from the urban areas to the rural areas because it was believed that the fleas causing the Black Death were common in the urban areas. The urban areas suffered a lack of food because the primary suppliers of food, who were the surrounding villages, could not supply adequate food. The loss of labor through deaths led to the lords resorting to sheep farming, as opposed to earlier grain farming.  There was also a shortage of commodities like bread because of the decline in grain farming.  The prices of food in the urban areas skyrocketed because of inflation. The inflation resulted in workers demanding better pay, leading to the 1381’s Peasants Revolt in Europe when the landlords were hesitant to heed to the peasants’ demands.

There were huge disruptions in the medieval world because of the Black Death. The Black Death led to the establishment of Feudal law restricting the movement of peasants unless authorized by their landlords. This was because of the limited labor experienced at the time. The government felt that the Feudal System was under threat. The Black Death also resulted in the introduction of the 1351’s Statute of Laborers, which sought to prevent the movement of peasants in search of better wages. This restriction led to the Peasants Revolt.  The Black Death resulted in the establishment of modern public health and sanitation practices. It is also noteworthy, that the Black Deaths led to a number of prosecutions of a number of groups like foreigners, Jews, friars, lepers, Romani, beggars, and pilgrims who were blamed in Europe for the outbreak of the Black Death. A number of Jewish communities were exterminated because they were believed to have caused the plague.

The Black Death led to the death of about 30% of the European population between 1348 and1351. These deaths drastically affected the peasants because of the scarcity of food and the shortage of labor. These effects affected the structure of medieval society, especially the Western civilization because of the de-urbanization. The plague had an influence on art and literature, for instance, Boccaccio’s The Decameron, which exemplifies the folklore and tales of the medieval ages.  The contemporary visual arts bases on the Black Death’s consequences, for example, the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Grim Reaper, and the dance of death.  The Black Death’s consequences resulted in a number of people turning to religion and piety. The rights of workers and other movements because of the consequences of the plague set precedence for the social change movements in Europe. Industrialization also grew due to the failure of the agricultural system. The medical field has also grown because of the effects of the Black Death.

Conclusion

In conclusion, epidemics, however, much they have negative impacts on the society; they are also significant in “shaping the evolution of human.”